Kent School Association

Hi guys - I see Colin has put my Fund Raising Link on the front page of the KSA website. Thanks Colin, most unexpected. I just thought I'd add a message here and ask directly for your help and sponsorship for this trek.

The plan is for me to complete the Inca Trail in Peru during October 2008, climbing 12,000 feet, trekking through the Andes to Macchu Picchu. The aim is to raise over £3,000 to support the Fostering Network's work with fostered children and young people across the UK. My wife and I are foster carers (we have a wee monster/little darling (depends on the moon cycle) with us at the moment)and the Network are a great help to all involved with Fostering in the UK (so your sponsorship will help kids in your area as well).

I am hoping that you may be able to sponsor me and although I realise you must receive many such requests during the course of a year I do hope that you will be able to help. Please dig deep and sponsor me online
at http://www.justgiving.com/davidmcelhoney
I am not looking for alot - a couple of pounds or a fiver will be as greatfully appreciated as the larger donations.

Come on Kenties - please help.

Best Wishes and Regards

Dave Mac

Dave I have been trying to log on to sponsor you but I keep getting a "site cannot be found" message Can you confirm the URL for me please? Thank you Party Jane

Hi Jane
I managed it throught this link

http://www.justgiving.com/davidmcelhoney

hope this helps

Sarah

Cheers Sarah

Training going well - managed a nice litle 10km run last night - just in after a 12 hour day and fancy a nice indian - nah, better not!

Thanks to all considering sponsorship and kisses to all who do

Dave Mac

Thanks for that - I got it to work so have "done the deed" hope you raise lots more money Dave! Cheers- Party Jane

Totally confused - the web link on the home page works fine!

Anyways, done the deed too - so now all that remains is the going and coming back Dave. Best of luck!

Thanks to all who have sponsored me so far from the Kentie family - and still plenty of time for those who haven't got around to it yet. It was pay day yesterday - go on, bang a fiver on the site - every bit counts.

I'm up to £700 now - I got a cheque from Zurich yesterday for £100 - so that was nice. I'm trying to get to £1,500 by the end of March.

I went across to the Lakes last weekend for my first proper outing of the season and it went well - new boots worked out a lot better than expected.

Best Wishes

Dave

Here's an update - I've now raised over £1,000, which is fantastic news. Three members of the Kentie family have sponsored me - thank you very much. I am now hoping to get to £1,500 by the end of March - so if you are feeling flush why not put a fiver on me to do it - every bit will be greatly appreciated.

http://www.justgiving.com/davidmcelhoney

Hi Dave!

I've updated the home page to reflect your excellent efforts! The link is still there and working - keep up the blisters matey...

Cheers Colin.

Had my Typhoid booster today - right arm is no longer working! What's that all about - just as well I'm left-handed :-)

Yellow fever booked for September (£50 as well, what do I pay my taxes for again?)

Gave the gym a miss this evening - but will hammer it again Thursday (filming tomorrow, making financial services adverts for the telly - yawn yawn - I feel a coma coming on).

Good luck tomorrow everyone - the blighter at No 11 is coming to rob you!

Here I am again - asking - I'm now up to £1,200 and would like to get to £1,500 by the end of March. A few from KSA have sponsored me - thank you again - but to those who haven't got around to it yet as the Trek is in October, can I ask you to think about sponsoring me now to help achieve my target. If you don't want to sponsor via the website (as I know it can be a bit of a cart-on) then why not email me and I'll give you my address - as cheques work just as well (made out to The Fostering Network and not me). Sorry about the harrasment - but it's my job! Cheers for reading. Dave

Hi everyone - not a good week last week - I feel it's going to get tough now - only managed £35! I need to get another £265 this week to reach the stage target of £1,500 for the end of the month - so if you are feeling generous, or keep putting it off - can I ask again for sponsorship from the Kentie family. I need someone out there to come up with £1,800 and then I can leave you alone (yeh right!).

Training going okay - snow on North Yorkshire Dales put paid to any long walks on my own for safety reasons but I did manage a 11km run this morning.

Here's the link again

http://www.justgiving.com/davidmcelhoney

Hope you all had a good Easter break and are feeling totally refreshed and generious!

Dave Mac

Hi guys, I'm not there yet for the end of month stage target - currently £240 short. If you are thinking of 'doing it for me baby' now's the time. Cheers Kenties. So far only three Kenties have come forward to be counted! You can get rid of me (and this thread) by donating to a worthwhile charity. Just in case anyone thought that the money in part was being used to get me there and back (as some other trips do) and to pay for the trek - rest assured that I've already paid for the trip myself as the Inca Trail is on my 'Bucket List' of places to go and things to achieve before kicking the bucket - I've also paid extra so I can get 4 days in the Amazon Rainforest at the end of the trek (another one on my bucket list). All of the money raised will go to The Fostering Network Charity. Thanks for reading and have a good weekendwith yur families - remember some 50,000 kids don't get that and this Charity is there to help.

I will be taking copies of your request to some friend of mine who foster children in south wales to see if i can get some more money raised for you. Hope it won't come too late tho
I'm surprised that you only got 3 responses. I wonder if the webmaster can email everyone on his list to ask for contributions? it might yeald a result?

That's a good idea.

The final cut off date is not the end of the month - that is just the stage target to have collected half of your target. I've still got about 3 months in which to get to the £3,000 and even after that the web page will be open until after the Trek.

Dig Deep guys and gals - it's a good cause and if you knew half of what I know about these foster kids you would be chucking a lot more in!

OK Dave I will pester mummy and daddy weller for you this weekend and get them to part with some of their government payouts ...

I didn't make the stage target - falling short by £135.

What does that MEAN Dave? Can you still take part or not???

Colin, I'm 100% going as I've paid for the trip myself (so no sponsorship money goes towards travel costs). The stage targets are set by the Charity but in the main are flexible - most going on the trip are behind target at this stage - in fact I think I'm leading the way - but you guys who know me, know that I tend to want to be out in front and have everything done and dusted way ahead of time. So, the trip is going ahead and I still need to get to £3,000.

Come on guys & gals - I'm £35 shy of my stage target - surely someone out there must be good for it (or part of it). Surely my jokes must be worth a few bob - either to continue or even stop them. Thanks for reading.

IT'S NOW OVER HALF FULL - YIPPEE - Still room for some more guys! Have a good weekend

Guess what - the tried and tested technique of HARRASSMENT of everyone I know has really started to pay off which the arrival of some really nice cheques this morning. I received £2,000 today and have now raised £3,515 for The Fostering Network. It's not too late to sponsor me and I'll still be fund raising right up until October. Please give generously - these kids really do benefit from your donations.

What brilliant news Dave. You're doing the hard part. All some of use have done is put our hands in our pockets and offer a few quid. So, can I just say, to anyone who hasn't as yet coughed up some dough, please, please do. Otherwise he'll keep sending out awful jokes (and boy are some of them awful) xx

Now, haven't I been good - I've still sent out the best jokes on the net and not harassed anyone for their hard-earned dosh for a week or so. Well, I'm disappearing till the end of the month so the jokes will stop - but the good news is the sponsoring website is still open and you can put your money on to that while I am away. Come on guys - although the target has been reached I'd still like to get to £5,000 before October. Come on KSA.

Hi guys and gals - I'm back from my trip and as promised I've left you alone - but now - IT'S PAY DAY TOMORROW so surely you can afford a little fiver here or there. I mean, what with the credit crunch, the falling house prices, rising mortgage rates, rising petrol prices, rising taxes and national insurance why would you not dig a little deeper and sponsor me for the Peru Trek - it's not as if I'm a member of the New Lie'ber now, is it? GO ON - YOU KNOW YOU CAN'T AFFORD IT BUT IF YOU DON'T GIVE IT TO ME SOME BASTARD FROM THE GOVERNMENT IS GOING TO TAKE IT FROM YOU AND SPEND IT ON A TV SURROUND SOUND SYSTEM FOR PRISONER 56478 IN THE SCRUBS!

No pressure then! LOL

It doesn't appear to have worked though! I think I've max'ed out at 4 Kenties sponsoring me - but there's time yet and I've not tried all methods yet.

try putting the message in the guest book too - just a thought PJ x

Good idea - just done it

As part of my preparations for Peru I am going to attempt the Lyke Wake Walk this coming Monday. For those who haven't heard of it, this walk is a complete traverse of the North Yorkshire Moors at their highest and widest. The distance is forty miles and the walk is to be completed within a 24 hour period. I am starting at 4am on Monday and plan to reach the finish within 16 hours. It looks like the weather is going to be poor and rain is forecast. So come on Kenties - please visit my sponsorship site and place a bit on me for The Fostering Network. I hope to report again on Tuesday.

Don,t forget to take the waterproofs it sounds like you may get a tad wet .... Best of luck hope you make your time ..

We left at 4.19 yesterday morning - and then from the start point at 4.50am from Ravenscar. Walked the 42 miles and reached the end at Osmotherly at 10.20pm last night. Weather was mainly good through out -only a couple of bouts of heavy rain. The high moors were very wet and the going was very tough and we all found ourselves up to our knees in a bog at some stage. I went through 4 pairs of socks by the half way point and one of the support staff had to go and buy some more. The so called magic 1000 mile socks I had bought for the Peru Trek were crap and it was those that gave me a blister on my heel (I am going to take them back as they didn't do what they said on the packet!) - but I was very lucky and my feet have done well. Not the same can be said for my left knee. Three out of the four of us took heavy falls at some stage but no major injuries. Would I do it again ................would I £%$& !!!!

So if you think me worthy - please consider some sponsorship for my Peru Trek.

Many thanks for reading

Well - only one month left before the trip. Still looking to raise funds for The Fostering Network.

http://www.justgiving.com/davidmcelhoney

Training is going well - I walked along part of the Cleveland Way on Sunday - not a sole to be seen - it was great! And then the mist rolled in - the new GPS SatNav is great but it doesn't stop you walking off a cliff. Currently running 10kms every second night and walking at least an 8 hour walk at the weekends.

Come on guys and gals - dig deep - I'm nearly at £4,000 - help me get there.

Hey Dave, you are nearly there man ...... to all Kenties, have a look at the site and see it updated with me truely - a great photo taken by David Railey himself no less - go on - donate something to a fantastic cause - the target of £4,000 should be reached very shortly, why not be the one who does it.

http://www.justgiving.com/davidmcelhoney

Many many thanks to the Kenties who have sponsored me so far ............ Jeff took the total over £4,000 (incredible and fantastic). I've just got back from another 10k training run to find the total over £4,000 - yaaahhhoooooooooooooooooooooo and thanks everyone.

Ps - don't be shy, it's not too late to add your name to the hero kenties

Well got back on Sunday and have been back at work all week - can't believe it's been and gone. The trip was fantastic and I'm so glad I trained hard for it. I've loads of photo's and I'll send some to the Colin so he can put them on site. Thank you again to all my Kentie sponsors - it's not too late for anyone still wanting to put a few quid on my site for The Fostering Network. You may be interested to know that we managed to raise over £52,000 for the charity which is a fantastic result.

Now what ..................Mount Killie maybe for 2010 (aged 50).

Mount Killie is 50 years old? It's looking good for its age!!! Well done Dave and I look forward to more pictures ...

I need nine quid sponsorship on the site - anyone here good for it?

http://www.justgiving.com/davidmcelhoney

9 quid well spent I reckon. Well done xx

Yippee.......... xx

Me ... me ... me ... me ... me ...

Well done Di ... and well done again Dave!!!

Fantastic Di - many thanks to you and to all Kenties who helped me get this far. I really appreciate it and so does the charity. They are a small charity competing against the 'big boys' for funds and they really do make a difference to children and young people in care. Thanks again everyone xxx

Many many thanks to all Kenties who supported me during 2008 for my Charity, The Fostering Network. The JustGiving Site closed today and I'm very pleased to announce that I raised £4,710. The Peru Trekking group raised over £55,000 so all in all it was a huge success, particularily as this was the first time the charity had tried anything overseas.

Now - what's next - maybe The Great Wall in 2010 (for my 50th) so watch this space.

Happy New Year to all Kenties and I hope 2009 brings you every happiness and success -and hopefully a new Government!

How did it go yesterday ... bet it was easy peasy after Peru .. no blisters I hope ....

Didn't go ahead due to the sudden illness of one of the walkers - so we hope to complete it this coming Saturday, the 10th. My sarnies will be a bit ripe by then no doubt!